Put Away Your Phone! (Part of The Awesomeness Blog)

Have you ever noticed that everywhere you go, people are always on their smartphones or some other electronic device? They’re talking on them, looking into them, playing or in someway fidgeting with them?

I think you might like the new book I’m working on then. This will be my first fiction picture book-it's totally fun and made-up!

It's called ‘Put Away Your Phone!’

The story is about a girl who's so annoyed by grown-ups who are always on their phones, but isn’t quite sure how to deal with her frustration. Her name is Emma and she has a bit of a temper.

One day she goes to the zoo with her family, but continues to see grown-ups everywhere on their phones. Instead of ruining her day by getting frustrated, Emma tries to be mindful and decides to count how many grown-ups she can see on their smartphones.

Emma encounters more than just people and animals as she counts her way through the zoo. Lets just say that she gets so frustrated with grown-ups that she gets herself into a pretty “wild” situation!

Will Emma find her way out of this situation? How many grown-ups does Emma count? Does Emma discover that there is an importance for smartphones?

I won’t give away any more details because I really think you should check it out when it's completed. Plus, I usually use photographic images for my books, but this one will have hand drawn pictures by a professional children's Illustrator!

Even though this book is recommended for kids aged 4-8, it will be a fun read for all ages-kids, teens and even adults. Put Away Your Phone! will be out Spring 2016! Keep your eyes open for its release day!I wrote this book because I’m getting tired of seeing people on their phones all the time too! Smartphones are really handy sometimes-to get important work messages, to contact family and friends, to look up information, to use as a camera, map, game or other fun and helpful app. They are especially useful in an emergency.

However, it seems that so many people lately just look at their smartphones and electronic devices because they're bored. It’s right there in front of them, so why wouldn’t they pick it up and have a look at it? Just to check their email messages, to see if they have a new text or Facebook notification, browse the internet or even play a game with it...

...just because they have nothing else to do. Unfortunately, sometimes all these devices leave everybody feeling frustrated!Emma's not the only one that gets annoyed when she tries to talk to someone, and can't get their attention because they are looking into their electronic device! Has this ever happened to you? Or have you ever been distracted from paying attention to someone else because your using a device? I have...I love my computer and sometimes I'm on it a lot! I'm sure sometimes I seem very distracted! This is okay sometimes and everybody everywhere does it with some kind of electronic device. We live in a very technological world that relies on electronics in it so it can function properly. But...maybe we need to learn to pay attention more to what is happening around us. It’s difficult to do this when we're looking into our electronic devices.

Maybe, everyone could practice “noticing” more, don’t you think? Adults, teens and kids. Maybe all the kids can teach everyone something about using electronic devices in a more balanced way. Sometimes, we have to know when to turn off our devices. We should all pay more attention to what or who is in front of us-other people and animals!

Here’s my idea…

From now on, to find more happiness in our lives we can all try to follow this simple rule…

If you absolutely don’t “need” your electronic device… Put away your phone, game, and anything else that distracts you from noticing the happiness that might be right in front of you. Simple right? Just put it away at least for an hour, then maybe two or three. Just try it.

You just never know what awesomeness you might notice…

Hi! I'm Tracy Bryan...

I'm a self-published author for kids aged 4-12. I write whimsical picture books about emotions, self-esteem, values, and mindfulness. I also like to write about social issues and other important topics that affect kids and their families. If there is something that you would like to know more about and you wish there was a book about it, email at the address below.

I live in Central Florida (near Disney World) with my family-my husband, son and two dogs named Jack and Rusty. I also have a daughter who lives in Canada with her boyfriend (who is also like a son to me). If you want to learn more about me, read the first post of The Awesomeness Blog , just below this one. There's pictures too!

You can visit my website by clicking on any heading at the menu above. This will redirect you to tracybryan.com. You can also email me at tracy@tracybryan.com. Hope to hear from you and look forward to blogging and reading with you!

Did You Know?

About half of U.S. smartphone owners check their devices several times an hour or more frequently, including 11% who say they check it every few minutes and 41% who check it a few times an hour. Another 20% of Americans claim to check their phones about once an hour, leaving 28% who check them less frequently.